Uncategorized
- Humans
Letters from the February 18, 2006, issue of Science News
Pain, pain, go away I’m pleased that images are now available to prove that self-control over pain works (“Brain Training Puts Big Hurt on Intense Pain: Volunteers learn to translate imaging data into neural-control tool,” SN: 12/17/05, p. 390). Actually, I and many other moms could have helped the researchers. During childbirth, we simply focused […]
- Health & Medicine
Alzheimer’s drug shows staying power
The drug memantine slowed mental decline in people with moderate-to-advanced Alzheimer's disease in a 12-month trial, the longest test of the drug to date.
- Earth
Krakatoa stifled sea level rise for decades
Ocean cooling caused by the volcanic eruption of Krakatoa in 1883 kept sea level worldwide in check well into the 20th century.
- Planetary Science
Stellar passage yields Charon’s girth
By observing Pluto's moon Charon passing in front of a star, astronomers have obtained precise measurements of the moon's radius and density.
- Earth
How to rate a snowstorm
Scientists have developed a rating scale to assess the impact of major snowstorms that strike the northeastern United States.
- Health & Medicine
Of taters and tots
For each serving of french fries that a preschool girl typically consumed per week, her adult risk of developing breast cancer climbed.
- Humans
SUVs no safer for kids than passenger cars
Children in sport utility vehicles are just as likely as children in passenger cars to be injured in an accident, despite the SUVs' greater weight.
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Soil microbes are reservoir for antibiotic resistance
Bacteria that live in dirt are surprisingly resistant to antibiotics, even those they presumably have never before encountered.
- Earth
Global warming may already be a killer
Earth's rising temperatures may be a precipitating factor in the extinctions of dozens of tropical frog species.
- Tech
Artificial Animalcules
Advances that include the first swimming micromachine and novel designs for similar devices are deepening scientists' understanding of the bizarre world of microscale liquids.
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19646
Perhaps in addition to using a friendly strain of Clostridium difficile to crowd out the disease-causing variety in the gut, other species of benign bacteria could be reintroduced at the same time. This might be done inexpensively using “probiotic” bacterial cultures already being sold by some health food companies. Michael DunphyNaperville, Ill. Researchers have tested […]
- Health & Medicine
Flora Horror
A diarrhea-causing bacterium has developed new resistance to a widely used class of antibiotics and has recently become more transmissible and more deadly.
